What Makes a Great Short Film?

One of the most obvious avenues for a short film is putting it through the festival circuit, but with increased submissions year on year and with tough competition to beat, we thought we’d get some inside tips from Festival Director, Paul Bruce, of the Edinburgh Short Film Festival, on just exactly what makes a stand out short film.

A good short film expresses one concept or one idea in a complete way without unnecessary diversions and then gets to its point. The ending is important in a short film and the short film-maker needs to make sure their ending is satisfying, coherent and works with the rest of the film. I don’t mind complexity in a short film as long as it holds together and ends well!

Short film makers aren’t bound by market interests or target audiences or production interference from other entities so it’s a chance for the film-maker to express themselves creatively and find out what they’re saying, it’s a chance to take some risks, see what you can do that’s new or different.

Great shorts make an impact, convey a mood or take viewers on brief but characterful journeys and whether it’s stylized vignettes, or hi-energy sci-fi, they still have to make an impact on the viewer in a short span. They have to make the viewer think about what they’re watching, and become engrossed and that takes real skill.

A short that does that, stands out from the crowd and makes you noticed. There’s no need to worry about doing anything else with your short, than aiming to have a completely engrossed viewer at the other end of the process!